It took me 2 years to get the parts I needed to build a Spy Set Reproduction Paraset. When is it OK to part out equipment to get the goodies that you need for a demanding authentic vintage build?
The problem with the Paraset build is that the instructions are really too good - very specific. Some like this level of exactness. But the parts layout is a bit tight. One bad measurement or slightly off drilled hole can cause trouble...usually driving the builder into a bad state of mind, punctuated with specific emotional outbursts, as yet another panel gets frisbeed across the room.
A friend of mine is a just retired doctor GP and both he and his wife were also involved with scouts with my XYL when our kids were young, so we would spend time at camp. Anyway I found out she was from Benton Harbor and had to ask the question - "did you ever hear of Heathkit?" "Hear of Heathkit, she said ? I picked and stuffed kits all through high school".
My present business partner was an engineer at Heath until he decided to go back to school for his Doctorate. He has a lot of stories, and I have a lot of Heathkits. :)
@@johnwest7993 It would be good to hear some of the stories. People are interested in the history of these companies as well as interest in radio itself,
There is a time for everything, even in electronics: a time to restore, a time to dismantle; a time to die so that new can live ;a time for new, made from old; nothing goes on forever, enjoy now by parting it out! Can’t wait to see the new….
Hello Mike - nice video! Thanks for the attention and the love. I hope to be able to provide parts for the Paraset community for many years, but it gets harder and harder to find specific parts like variable air capacitors and dials. There are parts that I already make myself, like the crystal sockets and the next thing to develop are replacements for the Jones connectors. -- Kind regards to everybody from Henk, a.k.a. Parasetguy.
As always, something interesting from Mr. Microwave))). Well, yes, 1950 is still the year.... I would think about breaking the radio receiver (and here the measuring device), the thing is more valuable. Hmm, you can go the other way and make a new front panel for this chassis)))
Your videos always bring us on a great journey. I might have been fooled into trying to restore the HeathKit, but a lot of expensive parts in there. I'm sure we'll see a ton over Yay'M broadcash transmitters being parted out due to so many stations shutting down.
I built one last year. It took a bit to collect the parts as well (about a year). Some I had to buy online as there was no hope of finding at hamfests on this side of the pond (at least not in this area). Other parts I made myself. As for restoring or parting out - that is always a tough decision. I think in this case, I would probably cannibalize it for parts given that it is not rare, or expensive and that it has been hacked. Also if I already had a signal generator that factor would also play into that decision. I probably wouldn't bother selling the parts, but keep them for future projects.
Give it a second life as a Paraset. Have the same vintage signal tracer and love the engraved Heathkit Pricision engraved on the aluminum handle. That alone is worth the 10 bucks!
My best flea market buy, $120.00 for a 1980s' Yaesu solid state 100W HF radio with its Yaesu ATU and external Yaesu 20A PSU with speaker. Receiver worked fine, but without any TX output. I swapped the radio for a $200 repair on my 991A, (not wanting to try out my SMD abilities on the PA), and I am keeping the rest.
I would try to restore it to original condition but you'd have to get rid of the paper and any wax capacitors in there and you might want to check some of the resistors as well but aside from that I would try to put it back in operation
Definitely the best thing is to part out the old Heathkit signal generator, it would not be worth restoring, because the xtal socket modification. Besides parts for a paraset, the signal generator has most of the parts needed to build or convert into a regenerative receiver!
Given that the unit is not rare, not original but modified and probably of low practical use today. The parts would be better put into a paraset which you are more likely to use and enjoy. Also factor in the fact that we want to follow your build of a paraset! 👍
Mike, I think you did due diligence and have argued the case for cannibalising the Heathkit. Unless an old piece of equipment is rare or a particularly nice example, I think repurposing the parts to make something that will be used and educate your viewers in the process is fair game.
Unless I already have a working piece of the same gear I only part out gear that came to me missing critical parts. I'm an eternal optimist. I like the idea of having 1 tube and 1 solid-state version of each piece of gear.
Another great video Mike - thanks. There's an understandable temptation to be blinded by nostalgia. It's worth bearing in mind that much historical equipment was of unremarkable design and quality, churned out by the moneygrubbers of the day - IOW the technology's changed but motives and attitudes were as ignoble as they are now. I'd say part out the Heathkit: it wasn't a classic or anything special; surviving examples aren't rare or expensive; and anyway the unit you've picked up has already been roached to a substantial extent. Make something memorable from something forgettable. (Given that the capacitor's 365 pF, the Heathkit's coils are nice and still useful too - multi-band receiver, QRP rig, GDO, etc.) Chicken-head knobs? If you must, for authenticity. Personally I find them ugly, and infuriating from an ergonomics PoV. Give me a fluted or knurled knob with a reference mark any day.
Those old entry level generators are great if you like exercising the fingers, personally I'm not that nostalgic. Turn that old piece of driftwood into something more useful..
SOE? I have an Apple, can I use an apple jack? Apple makes a cereal, Apple Jacks. puff? 1. You overpaid at Nearfest, it was worth a dollar. 2. I have a Paco G-30 generator you can have. 3. That AC cord could have been restored.
